Why Cindy for Washington State Senate on Nov. 3, 2026?

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With a very difficult federal administration, Washington State is facing challenges on many levels, including budget holes left by the Republican Budget Spending Bill. They are taking hundreds of billions of dollars from healthcare, food assistance, clean energy, housing, education, jobs and more to give to the wealthiest people and corporations in America through tax cuts.

Everyone in the 32nd Legislative District, including Cindy,deserves an effective Senator in the Washington State Legislature to defend Washington state, protect our values, and better prepare for our future.  

Cindy is highly qualified to serve as our State Senator

  • Cindy has both local elected experience as Mayor of Shoreline and as an 8th term State Representative.
  • Cindy has extensive experience in private business as an insurance agent and managing retail commercial property for her family. 
  • Cindy also has experience as a state worker, having worked at the University Hospital and Harborview Medical Center, and as a City of Seattle Systems Analyst and Records Manager. 
  • Cindy has deep roots in her community, having lived in 4 of the 6 cities she represents since she arrived at SeaTac airport in 1969: Seattle, Shoreline, Lynnwood and Edmonds.   
  • She also has deep roots within the Korean American community.

Cindy has delivered results serving as our State Representative (2011-2026)

  • Over the past 15 years, she’s led as the Chair of the Members of Color Caucus and on the House Democratic Campaign Committee, working hardto increase their number from under 10 to now 29 out of 59 Democrats in the House of Representatives.
  • Cindy led the Pacific Northwest Economic Region(PNWER.org) of 5 states and 5 Canadian provinces and territories by serving on its Executive Board and as its President. She helped establish its Regional Tourism Council.
  • Cindy has taken on difficult policies:
    1. Housing First: As a former Chair of the Housing Committee, her bills increasedretention and improvement of manufactured home communities – the most affordable forms of homeownership and rentals.  She worked with others to increase funding for affordable housing.  Cindy’s bills allow manysurplus government properties to be used for affordable housing and supportive activities. 
    2. Digital Connectivity: Cindy chairs the Technology, Economic Development and Veterans Committee. Washington state is eligible for $1.23B of the Broadband, Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.  She is helping connect many under- and un-served communities throughout Washington State with broadband by convening the Broadband Caucus and working closely with the WA State Broadband Office. Cindy serves on the FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee and will serve as a co-chair of the NCSL Technology and Telecommunications Standing Committee, serving all state legislators in the USA. 
    3. Disaster Resilience: Cindy is concerned about increasing incidence and severity of natural disasters from climate change.  Shehas proposed establishment of an Office of Resilience and now works closely with the Washington Military Department’s Emergency Management Division on disaster preparedness, mitigation, and response alongside Rep. Brandy Donaghyand others. 
    4. Decrease Crimes: Cindy has successfully passed measures that decreased catalytic converter thefts, more successful conviction of hate crimes, and making the willful distribution of a forged digital likeness a gross misdemeanor crime – the first law in the nation to impose criminal liability for any malicious deepfake, not just those that are sexual or political. She is working on reducing thefts and vandalism of critical infrastructure such as copper wires, fiber optic cables, and electrical transformers. 

Cindy is a trusted leader in the Washington State Legislature:

  • Cindy is considered a Utility Leader by Speaker Laurie Jinkins:  “…I think you’re a utility leader. You take leadership on lots of issues early, develop them and are happy to let others move in when you get them organized.”
  • In the House of Representatives, Cindy has mentored and shared power with members of her committee. She is confident the work will continue in the House, even as we need an experienced and skilled Senator to companion-sponsor these efforts: 
    1. As Vice Chair, Rep. Nicole Macri was taskedto work on housing issues with the Republican lead and she is now an indispensable member of the Operating Budget negotiations team. 
    2. Rep. Brandy Donaghy is co-leading on Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation, and Response with Rep. Ryu
    3. Rep. Clyde Shavers is working hard on AI regulation bills with Rep. Ryu’s encouragements
    4. Rep. Mia Gregerson succeeded in passing her Right to Repair Devices and Mobility Equipment bills after 6 years of cooperationand coordination with Rep. Ryu.

Click here to endorse Cindy!

Senate Campaign 2025

“I’ve always been on Cindy’s team from the moment I met her! She served the people of Shoreline as Mayor and will be an exceptional State Senator. Go Cindy!”

– Hon. Gael Tarleton, former State Representative – 36th LD and Port of Seattle Commissioner

“…I think you’re a utility leader. You take leadership on lots of issues early, develop them and are happy to let others move in when you get them organized.” 

– Speaker Laurie Jinkins, State Representative – 27th LD

“Cindy Ryu has been a hard-working, effective representative with an honorable tenure. After many years of productive work, she has my support to seek the Senate position.” 

– Thurston County Assessor Steven Drew

Ryu for WA State Senate

ryucindyLeave a comment

Thanks to your continuing support, I am serving my 8th term in the Washington State Legislature as the Chair of the Technology, Economic Development, and Veterans Committee. I would be honored to continue to serve the citizens of the 32nd Legislative District in the State Senate and I ask for your support once again on November 3rd, 2026. 

I have focused on 

  • Supporting families, safeguarding essential services, and making people-first policy decisions. 
  • Values-driven governance rather than austerity 
  • Fully funding education remains a high priority.

I helped with:

  • A budget that prioritizes education, housing, health care and essential services in a fiscally responsible manner, preparing for future financial challenges.
  • Investments in community safety and ensure equity and accountability.  
  • A $15.45 billion transportation budget focused on maintenance, ferry improvements, and long-term decarbonization, aligning infrastructure progress with climate and equity goals.
  • Updating the Clean Fuels & Climate Commitment Act and passing the Right to Repair bill to reduce e-waste and to keep digital access affordable. 

I opposed efforts to weaken gun safety laws and restrict rights. 

I championed a more transparent, equitable, and supportive future for Washington residents, with significant achievements in consumer protection, public safety, and equity. 

I am an effective legislator with consequential bills signed into law by Governor Ferguson:

– Strengthening consumer protections in service contracts (HB 1006)

– Codifying as a criminal act the spread of AI-generated deep fake impersonations (HB 1205)

– Enhancing funding flexibility for Public Facilities Districts (HB 1109)

– Expanding job mobility for licensed cosmetologists including military spouses (HB 1023) 

– Reinforcing hate crimes accountability (HB 1052)

Pushing Back against the Trump administration

  • On new federal mandates on state election procedures
  • FEMA policy changes which restrict access to disaster relief following wildfires, floods, and other emergencies
  • We must prioritize inclusivity, ensuring all students receive a safe and high-quality education regardless of status. 
  • Restricting international student access will damage our state’s global reputation, hinder innovations in fields like AI and health sciences, and miss out on their contribution of $917 million to Washington state’s economy. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me!

Yours truly,

Cindy

Why I’m Voting No on the Four Statewide Initiatives

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As election day nears, we’ll hear a lot about various races up and down the ballot, from our presidential election down to our local representatives. I wanted to take time to talk about the danger posed by the four statewide initiatives on your ballot, and I am voting No on all four.

These initiatives were put on the ballot by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, a mega millionaire who spent $6 million of his own money on paid signature gathering. He wants to give himself and his wealthy friends a tax cut at the expense of hard-working Washington families. 

Each of these initiatives repeals a landmark piece of legislation passed by the Democrats in the state legislature and rolls back hard-won progress we’ve made on fighting climate change, investing in education, lowering utility costs, and providing health care: 

  • Initiative 2117 would allow more pollution across Washington state, threatening our air, waterways and health, and it would slash funding for our state’s transportation plan, putting roads and bridges at risk, cutting transit services and leaving us with more traffic. 
  • Initiative 2124 would bankrupt Washington’s long term care insurance program, driving up costs for all of us and putting more pressure on women to leave their careers to care for loved ones with disabilities, chronic illness, or who are aging.
  • Initiative 2109 would repeal our state’s capital gains tax on Wall Street profits, giving a tax break to Washington’s mega-millionaires and billionaires while slashing $2.2 billion from our state’s budgets for childcare and public education over the next 5 years.. 
  • Initiative 2066 would increase energy bills, repeal important customer rebates, and stop communities from making decisions that work best for them.

These initiatives collectively will undo a decade of progress on education and childcare funding, reducing energy costs, protecting our clean air and water, and providing care for seniors and people with disabilities.  They cut taxes for big corporations and the wealthy, and shift the bill to middle- and lower-income families.

I’ll be voting no on all four initiatives.

Endorsed by Snohomish County Camano Association of Realtors

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I am thrilled to have the endorsement of the Snohomish County Camano Association of Realtors!  As a former chair of the Housing Committee, I am very aware of the challenges we continue to face with the shortage of housing supply throughout the 32nd Legislative District and beyond.  I look forward to working with them, my colleagues and many others to make sure we have improved supply of and affordability of housing.